TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is preparing to lodge an official complaint against South Korea, said a report, as Seoul refuses to return Iranian funds blocked in the country allegedly to comply with US sanctions on Tehran.
ILNA cited backchannel information in a report saying that the CBI has already kicked off the process to launch an official complaint against two South Korean banks that have frozen nearly $8.5 billion of Iranian funds under pressure from the United States, Press TV reported.
“Word has it that our country’s Central Bank has started preparations for (filing) a complaint against (South) Korea,” said the report.
It insisted, however, that Iranian government authorities view a legal action against South Korea as a last resort, meaning that an actual complaint by the CBI may take months to come.
A senior businessman involved in trade relations between Iran and South Korea also said that such ties had reduced to almost zero in light of Seoul’s growing conformity to US sanctions.
“Under these conditions, its natural and logical that we pursue the case of a complaint,” Hossein Tanhayi told ILNA, adding that major South Korean companies, once major investors in Iran, have left the country under US pressure.
Reports show that Iran has not been pleased with South Korea’s proposals to reimburse a small portion of the funds through sending medicine and food shipments to Iran.
The ILNA report said that Tehran has refused to process a $0.5-million cargo of medicine that South Korea has prepared to send to Iran.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
